Friday Nasiha

Freedom of conscience is one of the fundamental rights of humans enshrined in the Quran; it is therefore, absurd for anyone to suggest that Islam allows putting a person to death simply because of converting to another religion.

Even a casual reader of the Quran will not fail to be impressed by its emphasis on the freedom of conscience as a corner stone of its moral structure: (See Quran: 2: 256, 10: 99, 3: 20, 5: 92, 42: 48).

The entire moral teachings of the Quran are based on the notion of moral responsibility which entails freedom of choice. Therefore, to state that one must be put to death for choosing to disbelieve would only undermine the entire moral edifice of the Quran.

Furthermore, Quran does not allow anyone to harm those who are leaving in peace, no matter what religion they hold on to. This principle has been clearly stated in the Quran. (Quran: 4: 90)

In pursuance of this policy, the Prophet, peace be upon him, issued clear directives to his soldiers never to disturb those who are engaged in any form of worship. The policy of living and letting others to live is firmly enshrined in Chapter 109 of the Quran.

In full conformity with the above teachings, neither the Prophet, peace be upon him, nor any of the four Righteous Caliphs who succeeded him, were in the habit of hunting down people and executing them for merely changing their religions. Rather, they refrained from doing so except in rare cases involving treason. Treason, however, is another matter. The punishment for treason in the Quran is as strict as it is in the Old Testament. But it must never be confused with mere change of religion.

Improving Human Nature

Only that ethical or spiritual system which is not opposed to innate human aims and instincts, and which, instead of crushing them down, aspires at disciplining them and passing them from the bestial to the noble, can tame arrogant materialism and convert it into a healthy social force. This is the method of Islam, the way of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

The Arabs were quite chivalrous and warlike by temperament. The Prophet did not tone down their valour. He diverted it from mutual warfare and senseless blood-feuds to Jihad in the way of Allah. Similarly, the Prophet did not stifle their inborn generosity and high-mindedness. He put these virtues to the best advantage by advising his followers to employ them for bringing relief to the needy and the forsaken instead of allowing them to branch out towards indulgance and self-conceit. Without killing the indigenous characteristics of the Arabs, he wove them into the fabric of Islam. He taught his religion as a new theory of life, giving to mankind something more wholesome and more divine for whatever he took away from it. He even allowed for opportunities of amusement and recreation. As the great Muslim scholar, Hafiz Ibn Taymiyyah, has said, “Man agrees to give up a thing only when he is provided with a substitute thereof;” and that “Prophets are raised up to evolve and improve human nature, and not to change it.”

These truths are underlined in the teachings of the Prophet of Islam by innumerable instances. For example, when the Prophet came to Medina, he found the Medinites used to have two festivals in the year in which they indulged in merry-making. He inquired about the nature of the festivals and was told that the Medinites had been celebrating them from very early times. Then he said, “God has given you better festivals than these, Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr” (Abu Dawud). Aisha , may Allah be pleased with her, relates, “On an Eid day two Ansar girls were singing songs of the battle of Buath at my house. They were not professional singers. Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, chanced to pay us a visit at that moment. ‘What’, he exclaimed, ‘the Devil’s songs in the Prophet’s house?’ Thereupon the Prophet said to him, ‘Abu Bakr, every community has its Eid (day of rejoicing). It is our Eid today’” (Bukhari).

Source:
"Islam and the World" – by Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, pp. 122-123